Minecraft Origins: The Decimation of a Paradise
by thesandwich
Summary: An Oral History of the Plague -Idea adapted from the movie, "World War Z"
1. Chapter 1 - Survivor

Minecraft Origins – An Oral History of the Decimation

_The Overworld ; a world once inhabited by the Humans and Villagers._

_ But the plague came in the Golden Age. Fast, swift and agile, the virus spread across the Overworld, manifesting in every way possible. The entire population of Humans was decimated and converted into creatures with rotten flesh and unexplainable hostility. The Villagers were mostly killed off by the "Humans", as they weren't affected by the virus, but they lacked the basics to defend themselves._

_Few population centers of Villagers remain in the Overworld. The Animals have run free, and the world is allowed to grow on its own. Much of the previous Age's cities of Humans and Villagers have vanished from the surface, but still, a few do remain infested heavily with Zombies, Critters and Quislings. Critters emerged from deep underground after Human miners who were stung before by cave spider were infected. The Critters multiplied fast, and soon they emerged from the caves. Quislings are Zombies present in skeletal form. They are the ones who have been infected by the plague for centuries dating from the time the Decimation started. It is still not known how exactly Quislings developed the ability to use a bow, but it is known that they are the most dangerous and the most intellectual type of monsters._

_Shortly after the Decimation, Steve arrived on the Overworld after barely escaping with his life from the Aether, by falling off the edge of it and landing in an Overworld-spawned lake. He no longer has any means of returning to his native land, as portals linking to the Aether require a Mod, which must be crafted by Notch himself. However, Steve believes that there is already a portal linking to Aether in the Overworld. He believes that at least somebody knows where this portal is**. ** It wasn't long before Steve found out that none of his kind lived in the Overworld anymore, as his breed of Humans has been decimated. He ran to the first village situated on a grassland shortly after he landed, chased by Zombies and Critters and shot at by Quislings. The Iron Golems in the village managed to save his life by destroying the small horde of Zombies and Critters behind him. He wrote a diary full of his experiences, mostly comprised of the interviews he had with the Villagers. _

_North Lean_

_[I interview a Common Villager in the village of North Lean, my first place of refuge from those monsters out there. The village of North Lean is secure with fences and Iron and Snow Golems. The Villagers are also armed with a basic shovel or axe in case of an unexpected attack. The Villager gladly welcomes me into his simply-furnished house makes me feel at home by offering me a bowl of mushroom stew. He insists that I am immune to the Plague, since I remained a Human, and did not transform into a zombie.]_

We called it the Horror. The scientists called it the Plague. Everybody calls it the Decimation now, no doubt about that. Honestly, the only reason we're alive is because of the Golems in our yards which seemingly love us to bits. I've heard that the Golems were built by Humans in the Iron Age for war, and thank god they remained till now. We have regular occurrences of one or two Zombies trying to sneak in. But the Snows take care of that. Snowballs don't do much damage, but they help notify the Irons that there's an intrusion. Heck, building the fortresses for the Snows was worth it, many still feel that it's a waste of space. I lived in the city of Arden, far south of here. The metropolis housed millions of people. Now it's a hellhole. That's the main breeding centre for Zs and Crit.

_How did you actually manage to make it here during the Plague?_ _I mean, I didn't stay here then, but I don't see any signs of transport networks linking here to there._

Oh yes, there were millions of rails. Didn't you see the stone columns?

_I thought they were worn out building pillars. _

No. I took the rail here. The rail was supposed to link one metropolis to another. But unfortunately, well, it didn't. The other metropolis blew up the rails linking to it. I saw the first infected Human in my house. It was at night and we were having dinner, just the two of us. His eyes lost their color, it had turned from white in the middle of the pupil to completely black. He still hadn't become a Z, so I assumed he was just sick. He complained of a headache, but I brushed it off as a mere after-effect of testing TNTs in the deserts. The Humans were developed for war, I'm sure of that. They made things like the TNTs, swords and arrows. That Human in my house was my neighbor. He was a big-time TNT specialist, always going out into the field and blowing up the ground. Then, he began to act strangely. His speech was slurred, and his skin was, sort of, decaying rapidly into a green matter. He started to shake as if he was possessed. A stench developed around him too, and even before I came out of my daze, he lunged at me like a wild animal, snapping about and trying to grab my face. I pushed him off with all the force I could muster, and made for the door while he lumbered after me. Oh yeah, you should know that Zs can't run, only Critters can crawl fast, but still not as fast as when a normal person sprints. I literally flew out of the door and slammed it shut behind me, while he began moaning and banging the door. Something's wrong; that was my only thought then. I froze when I saw the horrors on the street. Those Zs were everywhere, lumbering, trudging and some were tearing my fellow Villagers to pieces. Here's the funny part, they weren't eating the Villagers like us, they were just killing indiscriminately. They derived pleasure from killing. My neighbor Villager grabbed me and shook me out of a second daze. The only words he said were, 'Rail! Get to the rail!' I ran with him straight through an entire Z horde surrounding the streets. The Zs were pouring out of the bank, apartments, and every other building. Terrified screams and shouts became a normality. Fire raged everywhere, setting both Villagers and Zs ablaze. We reached the rail in minutes. Now, the rail isn't exactly a popular mode of transport among Villagers as we prefer to walk with the environment. That's bullshit now. The rail was overcrowded with Villagers trying to get on mine-carts. It was a mess, and suddenly, a scream evaporated all the frustration and rush. Zs poured out of the rail control room and began their mass-killing. My neighbor pulled me away and shoved me into a mine-cart. He got into the next one and almost automatically, we zoomed off on the rail. Many Villagers were on mine-carts travelling ahead of me and out of the city. The city walls were already overrun from 'inside', and Zs were pouring out of the city. We saw Villagers down below trying to make it into the dense forests, only to end up in a dead end. The rail was the best way out, I guarantee.

_I'm guessing the whole city was lost within a few hours?_

Yeah, most probably. When we made it to a particular point in the rail, all of the mine-carts started plunging down into a small little lake. Before I could react, I found myself dropping down into the water below. We surfaced only to see that a section of the rail had been neatly blown off, thereby cutting off access to the next city. That city probably tried to contain the Plague by cutting off its access routes. What they didn't know, was that they were effectively containing a fire with a wooden barrel. We had no other choice but to venture out into the grassy plains and try to build up. Of course, many things attacked us like Critters which came out of the caves. Many of us perished, the lucky ones were the ones with weaponry. And this is where we eventually found 'refuge', only after roughly nine Iron Golems met us along the way. They ventured out from a cave. That's possible, because Humans used them to kill the cave spiders and make way for the huge mining process underway. Snow Golems also made their way to our village shortly after. We're guessing they came from the snow? Most probably. We're protected now at least.

_You all must have been extremely lucky to receive such aid. _

Ah, yes. The Priest still believes that He sent them.

_He?_

Notch, the creator of the Overworld, the creator of Humans and Villagers….

_Really?_

No. That's bullshit. God created us. God created Notch so he could create this world. I believe that God sent the Plague as a mere test.

_Test?_

_[He ignores my question.]_

_Do many wandering Villagers find their way to your village?_

Nope. We haven't seen one in months. You see, we have this stash of fireworks that we consider our 'diamonds'. Every night we fire one up and see it explode into brilliant sparks and flame in the sky. We were at least hoping that someone would see it and head for our village for refuge. Unfortunately, even if they did, they probably didn't make it far from where they were. At least, we're guessing that there's no other village within a large mile radius from where we are.

_[There's a knock on the door.]_

Hey, I'm busy! I'll see you in a bit!

_[The voice replies from the door. "This is urgent! We've got a Villager! He wandered into our village premises!"]_

Oh. Holy shit. A Villager?

_[He turns to me, wearing an expression of excitement and frenzy.]_

Sorry, I'll have to end it here. I wish you luck in your future endeavors.

_[He shakes my hand hastily and makes his way out of the house.]_

_The Eskimo's Grove_

_[After a full day of following ominous stone pillars south of New Lean, I arrive at an enormous network of tree houses reaching from one snow tree to another. Night is falling and the temperature is dropping and I have no choice but to ask for refuge in the Grove. They warmly welcome me and call me a Human, although I do not originate of the Overworld. I find the chance to interview an Eskimo and try to find out as much as I can. He does not pursue the matter that I am of Human breed. ] _

Yes, the Plague killed our morale. That's one thing no other Villager could tell you. As many Villagers as the Zs killed, it also destroyed our morale which was the only thing keeping us alive at that time. I remember running from the city walls with Zs hot on my heels. I never gave up, though, many around me did. They just stopped dead in their tracks, and knelt on the ground, while the Zs caught up and tore them up. I couldn't bear to look, but neither did I have the time to spare a glance. Many others ran with me, some occasionally lobbing some arrows into the horde chasing us. I looked up at the Villagers on the rail and thought, man, they're so damn lucky. My brother ran with me, side by side. He kept repeating the words, don't worry, everything's going to be just fine. We ran past farmhouses where Zs literally poured out of those large farmhouse storage barns. The animals ran rampant. For some reason, Zs don't attack any other bloody creature except us. It's almost as if they have a craving for Villager blood. I began to notice that the air around us grew colder, and soon enough, we were treading snow and ice. The Zs behind us started to get lesser after the cold built in, and when they completely vanished, we burrowed a large hole into a dirt cliff. There were few of us, and few torches as well to keep the place lighted and warm. We sealed off the entrance to the little burrow with cobblestone. There was meat and sugar to go around. By the next morning, there were no more Zs and we began to build in the snow trees. The good thing about these trees is that Critters can't climb snow trees due to the ice layer that forms on the trunk, and it's a good distance above the ground to avoid notice from the Zs. That was also when we realized that Zs burn up in the day and completely disappear, while Critters retreat back into their caves when the sun rises.

_How long did it take for you all to build the tree-houses?_

Ah, roughly around a week. We had our supply of food after many wandering animals found their way to us, as we were a light source. Golems also visited us and stayed with us even. I'm not sure why they came and where they came from, but they protected us at night from those Zs and Critts.

_How do you cultivate crops if you're always in the trees?_

That's why we developed aero-farming. Here let me show you.

_[He leads me to a section where the trees appear closer together. Wooden planks are extended from one tree to another here in continuous rows. In between these rows are columns of water which are contained between rows of plowed farm soil. And on the soil, are the fresh, growing wheat, potatoes and carrots.]_

This is the marvelous creation by a few scientists who went into refuge with us during the Plague. They were formally from the Shutter Laboratories branch in the city.

_Shutter Labs? _

_[I pause for a while. The Aether had such labs present commonly in the mountainous regions, except, they were named the Visor Gradient Stations.]_

Yes. Is there a problem?

_No, sorry. Please carry on._

They spent about four days constructing this farm-thing. All their effort was worth it though, we can self-sustain, and that's vital to survive an outbreak. _[He chuckles.] _

_Do you have similar structures to contain animals?_

Yeah, of course, we do have some cows and sheep that we hold in an aero-pen. The sheep are extremely important to our grove here, so we even deployed Golems to protect them in their pen. Kinda stupid if you'd ask me, we fenced up the pen and placed it under full lighting conditions, and plus there's a zero possibility that a Z or Crit makes it up our trees. These are Snow Trees, and as far as I know, they don't stop growing.

_[The sun sets, casting a massive orange glow across the horizon. It almost seems peaceful just to look at it.]_

Beautiful, isn't it. We used to gather on the roof of our houses back in Arden to just observe the sun set.

_[He yawns.]_

So, where're you headed?

_Arden._

Man, you're crazy. Haven't you heard enough of that place? It's the reason why some Zs find their way here. That place breeds Zs and Crits!

_It's possible that someone there knows a way to get to…._

_[I pause again.]_

To get to the next city? Whoa, you're mad.

_No. [I decide not to tell him. He wouldn't know anyway.] Can I stay for the night?_

Please! Do! You're not thinking of travelling at night, are you?

_No. [I laugh, and he laughs too.]_

_[As he walks me to a separate hut, he says to me….]_

Someday someone is going to find a way out of this mess. Someone is going to find a cure. Somebody is going to lead us out of this hell we're living in.

_[He smiles sadly and returns to his house after settling me in the hut.]_


	2. Chapter 2 - Revolution

_South Arden Border Town_

_[Another day of tracking down and following the same dull stone pillars has led me to a small town not far from Arden City's south gate. This town is about twice the size of North Lean (and I've learnt in Villager terms that a town is another name for a big village, or as they call it, a 'Capital Village'); the Villagers here are armoured and the town is stocked to the brim with weaponry of all sorts, including bows, arrows, swords and even potions. From this town, I am able to see the border walls of Arden City, rising like mountains out of the dead ground. I speak to a former Border Control Officer of the city's south gate.]_

Tragedy? Yes. Unseen? No. When I was still just a minor border officer, I realised that the city had made so many grave mistakes. It's like digging deep pits and filling them with light sand in place of solid rock. What does this lead to in the end? Nothing but unstable foundations. Arden's laidback handling of the city's migrants most probably led to its fall eventually. From the start, Arden built the cornerstone of its government from migrant and local residents combined. A government with migrant roots would only encourage the immigration of even more migrants from other metropolises. The Plague did_not _start in Arden, it started somewhere else and used Arden as a host suitable for its widespread transmission. Arden was already infected long before the outbreak of the Plague, it's just a ticking time-bomb waiting to explode at the opportune moment.

_So you're assuming that the migrants were carriers of the disease?_

Of course. It's not an assumption. It's a fact. Yes, we can't prove it, but we've zeroed down every conclusion to this hypothesis. During my days as an officer, protocol was restricted to a triple 'C'. It stood for Check, Credentials, Confirm. The 'Check' section took up most of the time and effort to check migrants for any potentially dangerous possessions. Credentials required the migrant to provide a valid migrant entry pass, and Confirm required our personal authorisation of the migrant. Arden's government didn't think that 'Check' was a valid checkpoint, and took it way too lightly. The immigration department always dismissed any suspicious items and even persons taken into custody by us officers.

_So as long as you had a valid credential, you could enter Arden?_

Yea, and whose foolish idea that was, it didn't go down well with the locals. We started seeing mass emigrations, and they mostly comprised of locals. We couldn't stop them, and the government didn't seem to bat an eyelid. On Day Zero _(Villagers refer the day when the Plague commenced its first outbreak to 'Day Zero' or 'Null Hours'), _I was with a fellow officer approving yet another 'valid credential'. We found TNT on this guy, and we confiscated it after he couldn't produce an authorisation document. For good reasons, we didn't even inform our superior about it. We started to hear faint screams escalating to louder shouts and wails of pure terror and fear coming from inside the city. The long stream of migrants suddenly dispersed, and that's when I heard the first moan of a Z. My friend pointed at the nearby pub, where I saw a disfigured Human climbing out of its window. The Human had green, decayed flesh and he smelled of a dozen rotting fish. He looked up and I stared straight into his eyes. I saw nothing, nothing that indicated the presence of life, nothing that told me that that Human was a Human anymore. Arrows flew from above and punched right through his skull, causing him to collapse in a decomposed heap on the grass. My friend grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the office, where we joined the crowd of migrants running back the way they came. Heck, some of the Human migrants began convulsing and seizing as well. The wall's defenders hadn't fallen at that time and they were desperately trying to sharp-shoot, which is something you can never do on an upper ground. There were as many dead Villagers as dead Zs with feathered tips protruding out of them. We ran off-road into the dense forests, hoping no Z would chase us in the dim light. Someone ahead of us yelled, 'DEAD END!', and I realised that I had to confront my worst fear, which no one should have to do at such a young age. That was death. I lost strength in my legs, feeling my upper body giving up as well. We used to say in traditional Arden tongue; when you lose your willpower, you lose yourself. That's when the cavalry found us. They were most likely returning from a patrol. They cut down every Z following us from the wall.

_Cavalry? Arden had a military force?_

Oh, yes. In our Golden Age, many cities developed an army for defensive purposes. The governments needed to feel that their treasures were protected, and civilians needed to sleep peacefully in their homes at dusk. We used to say; why do we sleep so peacefully? It's because we know we are safe. The cavalry rescued us from the horde and brought us to a nearby military outpost, which is where you are right now. There was barely enough food to go around; at a point in time, there was even more weapons and armour than basic life necessities.

_[He stands up.]_

Come, let me show you around.

_[I follow him out of the tent. Outside, I see nothing but sword-fighting, archery and every other possible sort of training for war. The officer turns to me briefly while gesturing at a catapult being towed into the central square.]_

We're preparing for our third assault on Arden. So far, the last two assaults have helped us reclaim the south gate. This time, we're going into the city.

_Isn't the city a breeding place for those monsters?_

Which is why we're going in. Clearing this breeding hole will put us one step ahead of them for the first time. Arden can and will be reclaimed. And we'll be a peaceful, united city, once again.

_[He points at the high walls surrounding the town.]_

That kept us alive for as long as I can remember. Upon reaching the outpost, we realised that the walls were not high enough to keep Critters out. On a particular night, they swarmed the village and killed dozens of our men before we were able to eradicate them all at daybreak. We extended the walls with planks at first due to a severe shortage in cobble, and archers and spearmen were stationed on the walls to keep Crits out. Then, Quislings became the main problem after they started targeting the defenders on the wall. And that is why,

_[He pulls a nearby lever, unbolting a small wooden door.]_

We have these.

_[He leads me to the outer-ring of the wall. I see rows of stone pistons lined parallel to the wall. All of them are loaded with arrows.]_

Fully-automated, motion-sensors, equipped and ready to fire even at the slightest motion. Of course, they are only activated at night. To make up for the shortage of archers defending the town, we have these little guys.

_[He sits on a stone piston and stares out at the wall.]_

Sometimes I wonder if there's anyone still in there.

_In the city?_

No. In the Z. Their minds are hardwired to kill, but they must have a conscience.

_[He gets up.]_

Where were you previously from?

_The Aether, do you know that place?_

Why, yes. It's an old Arden legend. Old beliefs state that its another form of heaven. The place of the gods. You can't be a god, right?

_[He laughs. He does not believe me, and I decide to let it stay that way. I change the topic.]_

_I'm planning to head into Arden, do you know if I can join the army at south gate?_

Woah, hold up. We do need more soldiers, but you must understand the risks you're about to take.

_I just need to get into Arden. There's something I need to find._

_[He stares at me suspiciously.]_

Okay. The army would welcome anybody, we need numbers now.

_I am trained in basic sharpshooting._

_[He raises an eyebrow.]_

Well then, that makes it even easier.

_[He leads me to a nearby barn-house, stocked with ranged weaponry and armour. He carefully lifts a longbow off its stand.]_

Birchwood. Light, durable and just enough twang in it to pierce light armour.

_[He then gestures to an armour stand, clad in chain armour, gleaming in the firelight.]_

Every archer's standard armour. Light, yet strong enough to withstand the arrows of a Quisling.

_[He watches me as I strap the armour on.]_

Our force at south gate is big, but the enemy's is bigger. Like the other assaults, we're fighting a losing battle from the start.

_That's a real comfort._

Sure, it is. We count ourselves lucky that we have weapons in our possession. The Golems can fight, but their numbers are few.

_[The town bell rings, signalling nightfall. Defenders move into position on the town's walls, arrows and spears poised towards the darkness, swallowing the land all around the lighted town. A commander nearby yells, 'This world is no longer ours, but we will fight to the very last man defending what little we have left. For Arden!', followed by the soldiers reply, 'For Arden!'.]_

We have plenty of food and a warm bed. You're welcome to stay for the night if you wish, it's a plunge into death if you head out now.

_[We both laugh and he politely takes his exit, while I head towards the nearby inn.]_


End file.
